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A strong workplace culture should be at the heart of any organisation. Celebrating shared values, beliefs, and behaviours will define how your staff, pupils, and stakeholders interact, creating a sense of pride in your School or Trust and what it stands for.
Defining your workplace values
To align your School or Trust’s values and culture, begin to define the core values you wish to demonstrate by engaging your stakeholders, senior leaders and employees in meaningful discussions. Allow your employees to bring their ideas to the table. This will enable you to understand your employees’ perspectives and align their contributions with your goals.
When everyone is on-board with the same objectives it will create a more unified working environment in which everyone feels connected to each other’s goals. Values that reflect the thoughts and feelings of your employees are more likely to be shared and respected by everyone in the organisation.
Once your core values are established, re-communicate them to your employees. This could be done through regular team meetings, school-wide newsletters or emails. It’s also important to make sure that everyone is aware of how these values apply to their specific roles, as well as how they can contribute to achieving the overall goals of your education setting.
Applying workplace values to your organisation
Once you’ve clearly defined your organisation's values, your employees should understand its mission and vision and how their actions will contribute to achieving these goals. It’s vital for your workplace culture that these values are embedded across all aspects of your education setting.
Open communication between employees and management is key to fostering a positive culture where all voices are heard. By engaging with employees and creating an environment in which all opinions are respected, you allow for a better understanding of what each employee brings to the table and how their ideas can shape the future of the organisation. This open dialogue also helps create trust between employees and leaders, which makes it easier to raise any issues or concerns so they can be addressed quickly.
It's also key to provide opportunities for growth within the organisation. This will further incentivise employees to stay engaged with their work as they strive for professional development while helping to achieve organisational goals and successful outcomes for pupils.
Education settings should also reward employees for demonstrating values in their daily work lives. This could be done through recognition programmes such as employee of the month awards or bonuses for exemplary performance. Rewarding those who exemplify the values of your School or Trust will not only encourage others but also show appreciation for those who have gone above and beyond in their daily work activities.
Follow our 5 steps to improving the culture within a school or academy trust:
1. Establish core values: The first step in improving the culture of a school or academy trust is to establish core values that reflect the organisation’s mission and vision. These values should be communicated to all staff and students, so that everyone is aware of what is expected of them.
2. Create opportunities for collaboration: Create opportunities for collaboration: Creating opportunities for collaboration between staff and students is key to fostering a positive culture in a school or academy trust. This could include regular meetings, team building activities, or cross-departmental projects that allow staff and students to work together and learn from one another.
3. Promote professional development: Professional development is essential for any organisation, but especially in a school or academy trust where staff are responsible for developing young minds. Developing initiatives such as mentoring programmes and providing access to professional development courses can help ensure that teachers are always learning new techniques and staying up to date with best practice.
4. Continuous engagement of employees: Creating a collaborative culture between leaders and employees increases their willingness to participate openly and positively. Involving employees in an open dialogue about culture planning helps leaders see the changes that are needed from an employee perspective. It uncovers gaps between promises made and the everyday experience.
5. Reward excellence: Recognition of exemplary behaviour can help strengthen bonds between colleagues and reinforce a sense of pride in being part of an organisation that puts its values first.
By implementing these measures, schools and academy trusts can ensure that their workplace culture stays true to their core values while allowing space for creativity and collaboration among the workforce - key components of sustainable success over time!
